NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- New York City FC is the champion of Major League Soccer, and elected officials are getting in on the celebration.
The soccer club, which plays its home games at Yankee Stadium, took home its first-ever MLS Cup championship Saturday with a penalty kick victory over the Portland Timbers.
It’s the first championship brought home by a major New York City-area pro sports team in nearly a decade, when the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI.
The champs were celebrated in style Tuesday, visiting City Hall and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Bronx native and NYCFC defender Tayvon Gray got a key to the city.
NYCFC only joined the MLS in 2015, and hadn’t appeared in the title game until this weekend.
Fans at the ceremony let the mayor and others know that despite their excitement to be champions, they still want a stadium to call their own. The team played at Yankee Stadium and at the New York Red Bulls’ stadium in New Jersey this year.
Gov. Kathy Hochul also announced that landmarks across the state would pay tribute to NYCFC’s title Tuesday night, lighting up One World Trade Center, the Kosciuszko Bridge, Grand Central Terminal’s Pershing Square Viaduct, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the LIRR’s East End Gateway at Penn Station, Empire State Plaza, Niagara Falls and more in celebration.
"I want to congratulate the entire team and backroom staff at NYCFC for their dramatic MLS Cup victory over the weekend," Hochul said. "You have done New York City and State proud with this incredible achievement and we hope this Cup will be the first of many more championships to come."
President Joe Biden also congratulated NYCFC on its win, saying he'd see them soon to celebrate at the White House.